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Stargazing Tour: Explore Southern Skies
4.3
150 Ratings
Lake Tekapo
Discover the universe at Mt John Observatory. Explore the Milky Way, distant galaxies, and more with expert guides in New Zealand’s premier stargazing experience.
Discover the universe at Mt John Observatory. Explore the Milky Way, distant galaxies, and more with expert guides in New Zealand’s premier stargazing experience.
Duration:
1 hour, 45 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Dark Sky Project - Meet the Dark Sky Project team in Lake Tekapo and journey to the top of Mount John, standing 1029 meters above Tekapo, offering breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and lakes.
- Mount John University Observatory - Delight in a stargazing adventure atop Mount John. With exclusive summit access, an expert astronomy…
- Dark Sky Project - Meet the Dark Sky Project team in Lake Tekapo and journey to the top of Mount John, standing 1029 meters above Tekapo, offering breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and lakes.
- Mount John University Observatory - Delight in a stargazing adventure atop Mount John. With exclusive summit access, an expert astronomy guide will offer an educational and engaging experience within the Aoraki McKenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, the largest Gold standard reserve globally. Guides will combine naked-eye stargazing with the use of powerful telescopes, all set against the backdrop of the University of Canterbury research center, a world-renowned, top-tier facility.
What's Included
- Return transport from Tekapo township
- Telescope viewing through advanced observatory equipment
- Guided naked-eye stargazing with laser pointers
- Exclusive access to Mount John Observatory summit
- Expert astronomy guides (English & Mandarin)
- Extreme Cold Weather jackets provided
- Return transport from Tekapo township
- Telescope viewing through advanced observatory equipment
- Guided naked-eye stargazing with laser pointers
- Exclusive access to Mount John Observatory summit
- Expert astronomy guides (English & Mandarin)
- Extreme Cold Weather jackets provided
What's Not Included
- Meals and snacks
- Hotel pickup/drop-off
- Meals and snacks
- Hotel pickup/drop-off
Additional Information
Our most popular astronomy experience at the world-renowned astronomical research centre. Prepare for an awe-inspiring evening of discovery.
Immerse yourself in the stunning surrounds, pristine night skies and sophisticated viewing technologies as our expert guides share the science and stories of our Southern Skies.
High atop Mount John’s 1,029 metre…
Our most popular astronomy experience at the world-renowned astronomical research centre. Prepare for an awe-inspiring evening of discovery.
Immerse yourself in the stunning surrounds, pristine night skies and sophisticated viewing technologies as our expert guides share the science and stories of our Southern Skies.
High atop Mount John’s 1,029 metre peak, you’ll be at the heart of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest International Dark Sky Reserve. Every night sky reveals something new. The incredible Milky Way. Far-off planets. Star clusters, solar systems, constellations. You might even glimpse a distant galaxy.
Don’t miss New Zealand’s premier stargazing experience. Exclusive to Dark Sky Project, the Summit Experience at Mt John Observatory is in partnership with the University of Canterbury.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- A maximum of 22 people per trip time
- If you are booking a time after midnight please double check the date you are booking
- If weather prevents the tour from operating, an alternate indoor experience may be offered as an alternative
- Not recommended with travelers with mobility issues
Location
Dark Sky Project
1 Motuariki Lane,
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.3
(150 Ratings)
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201jackied
Nov 20, 2025
Go if you can. - Magical. It was an experience of a lifetime. Our guide was excellent and looking through the telescopes incredible. Need to be a bit lucky with the weather and book a long time in advance.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Xochi45
Nov 20, 2025
Nigh Sky Tour - Such a fun and unique experience! We learned so much while having a wonderful time. Our guides were super nice and gave a great tour. A much if you are in the area! They even provide jackets if you don't have something warm because it gets really cold after dark up there.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andyp883
Nov 15, 2025
Interesting and insightful - A superb experience with knowledgeable guides who had great insight and passion for their subject, I would recommend to everyone.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wayne_d
Nov 4, 2025
Gazing the stars - Exceptional staff knowledge, timely and engaging. Although slightly cloudy on occasion throughout the experience it didn’t detract from the experience.
Review provided by Viator
Ylm22
Oct 10, 2025
Summit experience was amazing, especially with Oscar as guide - With a bit of luck, we had clear skies when we arrived on Mount John. Summit Experience / tour was incredible, and we were thoroughly impressed with Oscar, our main guide. Oscar made the experience much more worthwhile with his passion, communication skills, story telling ability. There is depth to this tour in terms of understanding the science (astrophysics) and not just a stargazing activity. Would encourage everyone to do the Summit Experience to learn more about our skies, celestial objects and doing our small part to support research and dark sky efforts
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Road586413
Nov 30, 2025
Excited but weather against us - Very nice team
Unfortunately weather was against us and booking was cancelled
We were given a few options but only a full refund worked for us due to travel and time pressures
Disappointing, but no one’s fault
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Linhmyquach
Nov 14, 2025
Star gazing 9-11-25. - Good experience despite weather not being optimal and cloudy. Noticeably more stars in the sky in this part of the Southern hemisphere despite the weather conditions.
Main guide was friendly, knowledgeable and professional. Team were accomodating and they tailored our experience well according to the weather that night.
As a result of bad weather, a partial refund was provided for customers which was very considerate and professional of them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rong1871
Sep 30, 2025
Good but not great - It wasn't what I expected. There were lots of people and very little time to see through the telescope. The guide was very knowledgeable with the stars. Was disappointed couldn't see the moon as the clouds came through. But it is what it is. Driver played chinese music in the bus , May be try a play english so everyone feels inclusive. Just a thought. I expected more time to see visit other domes, rather then just 1 dome and couple other telescopes. That's just me.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tanya622001
Nov 22, 2025
Horrible experience, definitely do not recommend even considering this trip. - Had the most terrible experience, drove for 3 hours late in the night only to reach and find that the trip was cancelled.
Nobody from their team called to give us an update about the cancellation. Wasted fuel, energy, time and sleep.
Once we were there and found out it was cancelled, their team gave very short and vague explanations about why we weren’t informed earlier.
Instead of being genuinely apologetic they tried to get us into their indoor stars experience so they at least get half of the fee. They’re not customer centric anymore, they do not care and only want to get money out of people whether they have a good experience or not. Definitely would not recommend even trying this experience because there’s a high chance you will be disappointed. The staff wasn’t helpful either, a complete waste. A group of 88 people were booked at the given time slot and nobody was informed about the cancellation just so they could persuade people into paying for their indoor stars experience since we were all already there.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jusli2015
Nov 14, 2025
To improve! - My crater experience was cancelled due to bad weather, no similar tour to the hours according to refund proposal or interior experience.
I took the inner experience for not coming to Tekapo for nothing but I did not like it. Passionate guide but very poor visit on the constellations, no link with Maori ... Yet it could be much better in view of the material. I do not recommend indoors based on price/content
Review provided by Tripadvisor
